//------------------------------// // Eleven months later // Story: The Foal in The Basket // by PonyBlue //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Eleven months later. The door knocked three times. It wasn’t loud but it was enough to catch Spike’s attention. “Coming!” The baby dragon sighed and put away the bread knife he held. He untied the apron around his waist, and left the kitchen with the morning’s breakfast still half made on the countertop. Twilight was no help in the early mornings. He couldn’t depend on her to answer the door. As with most mornings, the purple Unicorn which he called mother, sister, and friend was dead to the world from staying up till the early hours of the morning studying. The little purple dragon opened the door of the Book and Branches Library and looked outside. “Any pony there?” No pony replied. There was nothing but the sound of birds, and a basket on the threshold of the door. It was a dirty, brown, straw basket, the type a pony would use for a picnic. A thin midnight blue blanket covered the top. An uneasy feeling crept up his gullet. ‘Nah couldn’t be,’ Spike dismissed. That only happened in stories. This was Ponyville! It was far more likely that it was a basket of freshly baked muffins, or sweet candy, or even spicy sapphires given by some unknown benefactor or secret admirer. Actually, on second thought, it probably wasn’t freshly baked muffins; the grey mailmare Derpy Hooves would have eaten those. He reached down and peeled back the blanket. ** *** ** “Twilight!” Spike ran up to stairs. The fast, heavy foot falls of the young dragon echoed all the way up to library’s second floor. “You’ve got to come down now!” The dragon huffed at the foot of her bed. “A few more minutes,” came the reply from the mound under the blanket. “NO!” He nearly shouted in fearful panic. “Twilight it’s important.” Spike ripped the blanket off the purple mare. “You have to come down now!” He grabbed her fore leg as if he was going to carry her off the bed himself. “I’m up! I’m up! I’m up already.” She beat him back with her fore hoof. Somehow she managed to muster enough strength to roll to the edge of the bed, and then to her four protesting legs. With a wide yawn, she trotted towards the staircase,, without so much as sparing a second to brush her bed matted mane. Spike was gone, all but flying down the staircase ahead of her at the pace his legs were moving. It was 7 in the morning and she had all of 4 hours of sleep. Sure it was enough sleep, if you wanted a shambling zombie for company. “I’m down, what did you want to show me Spike?” Her number one assistant pointed to the table in the library’s main room. It was a basket, a battered, reed picnic basket that had seen much use and better times. Peeking out from under the blanket was a small little snout and a pair of big, harlequin blue eyes. There was a small foal in said basket! Her brilliantly sharp mind, dulled slightly by lack of sleep, was at a loss to make sense of this strange sight. The little foal let out a tiny, gurgled laugh. “I found it at our door step.” Spike looked urgently to her. “I think she’s been abandoned. What do we do?” He asked. His tone was obviously hoping for an answer. What does a pony say after such a discovery? ‘Mail it back to Sender,’ was definitely not a suitable response. Not knowing what to do next, Twilight approached the basket for a better look. The foal had a horn on her forehead, ruling out an Earth Pony or a Pegasus. The natural conclusion was she, Twilight Sparkle, The Element of Magic, personal student of Princess Celestia of Equestria, heir apparent of House Twilight, as unlikely as it sounded had an abandoned Unicorn foal on her hooves. However, upon closer inspection, said foal’s horn was unlike any Unicorn horn she had ever seen. It was missing the familiar spiralling pattern of grooves unique to each individual Unicorn. The foal’s horn was as smooth as a blade, and flattened on either side, giving the horn a flattened oval cross section. ‘A congenital birth defect?’ Twilight idly pondered. If so, it was quite unfortunate, and she felt a twinge of pity for the young thing, as she imagined the years of growing up with such an un-slightly horn. It was very unfortunate too, as the foal did have rather interesting eye colour. Twilight Sparkle lit her horn and lifted the foal from under the cover of its rag thin blue blanket. The foal was a filly that much was apparent with a single glance and a newborn too, given her small size and long, weak, spindly legs. The foal’s coat was turquoisish white and her mane and tail were sapphire blue. A familiar stripe of silvery grey ran through both mane and tail. There were wings affixed to her back. ‘Not a Unicorn,’ Twilight corrected herself. This had gone beyond a mere congenital birth defect. She was seeing something new. She turned the filly around within the grip of her magic. The foal’s wings weren’t feathered like Pegasus wings. They were diaphanous, almost transparent membrane structures that refracted incoming light into a small kaleidoscope of shimmering colour. What breed of pony was this foal? “She came with this.” Spike held up a thick envelope. It was a clue. Twilight took the letter and placed the foal on the floor beside her. She paid close attention to the envelope, noting a wax seal affixed it. It wasn’t a House seal she was familiar with. That was a clue in itself. This was not one of the Major Houses of Canterlot nobility nor one of the more engaged and active Minor Houses. Carefully Twilight made a cut along the edge of the envelope, and so preserving the seal for later investigation. She read the letter. It was brief letter yet by the time Twilight Sparkle had finished, she simply had to sit down. Twilight Sparkle fell heavily on to her haunches. Shock and disbelief raced through her mind in equal measure. It didn’t take more than one look at Twilight’s shocked face to tell him that the letter was bad news. “What did it say?” Spike asked as he came close. “Her name is Princess Honeydew Wisp.” Twilight said slowly, whilst folding the letter shut and pushed it back into its envelope. “A Princess?” Spike glanced at the baby, puzzled. “Why would a Noble House drop their foal at our doorstep?” “A Changeling princess, Spike!” Twilight replied sharply then in a softer tone added, “She is the daughter of Queen Chrysalis and my brother.” “Oh boy.” ** *** ** Spike offered Twilight a cup of hot tea. It was a calming tea or so the back of the packaging claimed. “You know something, Twilight. Wisp doesn’t look like the Changlings that we saw at Canterlot.” He glanced at the foal resting on the floor, in the same place Twilight had placed her minutes earlier. “For one thing,” the dragon continued. “She doesn’t have a black coat, well, maybe just at tips of her ears and hooves. But still, her coat and mane have colour, and there aren’t holes in her hooves or wings.” Twilight did not reply. She had no time for tea or much else for that matter. She paced round and round the small table in the middle of the library’s main floor. She was beginning to wear a groove into the floor boards. Spike knew he had to stop her soon. The last time that happened, they had to replace the library’s floor boards and it had come out of Twilight’s stipend. Spike was not going back to eating sand and charcoal for breakfast. “Ponies in Ponyville seem to be quite an accepting bunch.” He continued, as reasonable as ever. “We have seen quite a few strange things since we moved here. I think they might be okay if Wisp moved in with us.” Spike replied quite reasonably. “Especially if she is a foal and your niece. Nopony would say a bad word about a cute foal.” “That is not the point!” “No?” Spike was a tad perplexed. “I think you are making a mountain out of a mole hill.” “Spike! I. Am. Not.” Twilight stood still. “I’m trying to think of a way to prevent a catastrophe from happening. Do you know what will happen if somepony finds out that there is a changeling in Ponyville? Do you know what kind of trouble we could get into for harbouring a creature that can take any pony’s shape and feeds on love itself?!” Spike shook his head. “Neither do I!” Twilight exclaimed in terrible horror. “I need to study Equestrian Law to find out. Changelings are dangerous. We could be banished, or imprisoned, or imprisoned in the place we were banished too. And that is not the worst part!” Twilight exclaimed. Her mane was becoming increasingly frazzled. “We can’t let anypony in Ponyville discover that there is a Changeling here because somepony would inevitably inform the Royal Guard.” Twilight’s mind raced as it explored the unfolding scenario. “There will be an investigation, they’d find this letter and it would lead to be a horrible scandal. My brother’s career will be ruined! I don’t know if Shining Armour would be allowed to collect trash, let alone remain as the Captain of the Royal Equestrian Guard after that.” “It can’t be that bad. He was under a spell and that Changeling Queen did fool every pony including both Princesses. I am sure that is a good enough excuse.” “It’s bad alright. Really bad. My mother wrote to me to keep me informed. The Noble Houses are up in arms over the Changeling Invasion. They are calling into question Shining Armour’s suitability as Captain of the Guard. Some are even calling for charges of dereliction of duty. This foal means he…with… Chrysalis. Oh Celestia, Cadance! How will Cadance react once she finds out?” Twilight was hyperventilating. “What little I saw of Cadance, I think she is a pretty understanding mare. I think she would forgive Shining Armour.” “She is, under normal circumstances but this isn’t normal.” Twilight couldn’t help but stress the last part. “Cadance is only an alicorn and niece to Princess Celestia. What is the worst she could do? Maybe banish my BBBFF to the moon forever!” “BBBFF?” “Big Brother Best Friend Forever.” Twilight Sparkle explained. It was quite obvious what the acronym meant, why did ponies always have to ask? “Oh.” He nodded in understanding, and paused. “Well maybe this is some kind of trick?” Spike suggested helpfully. “The Changelings at Canterlot were awfully tricky. Maybe she really isn’t your niece.” “I don’t think Queen Chrysalis would lie. A simple paternity spell would reveal the truth.” “I guess you’re right. Wisp does have a family resemblance. She has your straight mane. She even has that different coloured stripe running through her mane and tail that you share with your brother and mother.” “Maybe we can turn her into a regular Unicorn.” Twilight said suddenly. “There must be a spell that can do that. What am I thinking?” Twilight exclaimed. “She is a changeling! If I just could convince her to change shape, I could then lock her into a Unicorn shape, and pass her off as my niece from my father’s side of the family. Of course I would have to invent a new cousin. But that is doable. ” Spike didn’t like the way the corner of her eye began to twitch. He didn’t like it one bit at all. His mother-sister-friend really didn’t cope well with unexpected stress. There was the whole episode of being tardy when she forgot to submit a Friendship report. Not to mention the week of madness when she forgot to leave time in the month to plan her next month. The very memory of the week was enough to give him stomach pains, although that was mostly Past Spike’s fault for eating so such ice cream. “She’s only a baby. I don’t think she can change shape yet.” Spike signed. “Yes, yes what was I thinking?” Twilight replied more calmly. “Spike, get me some Wonderglue. I’ll just glue on a fake horn to her forehead and hide her wings under a vest. I think I even have one of my old vests in my wardrobe. Simple and functional!” Spike was lucky to be spared the sight of Twilight’s vest. It would have most certainly rendered him blind as he was just a tad fashion conscious. The article in question was deemed a crime against fashion, and its creator exiled to making fascinators while the pattern itself was banned ten years earlier in the Prance Fashion Convention of 993 “Stop, Twilight. Just stop. You’re going to do something off the wall.” Unfortunately it was obvious Twilight was no longer listening. “If a fake horn, a vest, some Wonderglue and a fake cousin can save us from catastrophe, why should we not use it? If we used some good quality glue it just might last her entire life.” The baby dragon had not finished his say. He knew they were approaching the deep end. “It’ll all go wrong somehow. Terribly wrong! Either Princess Celestia will have to come to fix things or you will try to fix it yourself, making things ten times worse. We will then have to go see The Doctor and his blue box. What follows after that is a lot of running and screaming.” “Spike! The glue!” “Did I mention screaming and teeth? Temporal paradoxes and things under you bed that go bump in the night. Things you don’t want to know that you share the universe with. This is just like when you broke that rare pre-Equestrian Unicorn vase you had on loan from the Royal Equestrian Society of Antiquities.” “I didn’t break that vase. You caught it.” She pointed out He gave her a long, searching look that somehow spoke volumes of a history and experiences that never were. “My point is just stop. You can’t solve this alone. You need to bring in other ponies to help. Your brother for example; Wisp is his foal. Besides, gluing a fake horn onto a foal must come under child abuse laws.” Unnoticed by anybody, the young foal on the floor had risen unsteadily to her feet. Once standing, she instinctively lifted her head to the space beneath Twilight’s hind legs. The foal found one of her nipples, and began to suck aggressively. “Hey, cut that out.” Twilight shook her body slightly and backed away. The foal was unceremoniously dislodged. She tried to follow on her unsteady legs but Twilight took another step back. It was too much for the poor foal, and weak legs finally gave out on her. She fell to the wooden floor and began to cry. It wasn’t a loud cry. It was a soft almost defeated whimper and was gut wrenchingly pitiful in its heartfelt intensity. “That was rather mean of you. She’s hungry.” “I don’t have any milk to feed her, Spike.” Twilight pointed out. “I’m not lactating. “We’ve got to get her some milk. She certainly hasn’t had breakfast.” “So what do you recommend we do, oh wise dragon?” “I don’t know!” He retorted. “Who does a pony go to when they have a new foal on their hooves?”